My friend’s message was revolutionary. And simple. And easy… and based on a free-market economic model. It was the opportunity not only to impact thousands of lives, but even to liberate thousands of children trapped in economic slavery.

What would it cost? Nothing. Rien. Zilch. Nada. 

He only asked one thing: Change a few of the ingredients they used in food preparation. But really, it wasn’t even that. He asked them to begin using ingredients that were grown using fair-trade practices rather than “employing” 10-year-old children who make pennies a day.

He reached out to Christian summer camps and churches all across his country armed with a list of fair trade companies they could purchase from. But no one cared. No churches or Christian camps changed their food prep practices. After several years the discouragement began to set in.

Well, maybe, just maybe, a few of us will begin to care?

Here are 3 great first steps: 

We can commit to only purchasing our 1) chocolate and 2) coffee from companies that guarantee a fair wage for workers in every country and every step in the production process. (Check out a bunch of other products and companies here):

Chocolate

• Barry Callebaut
• Belvas Chocolate
• Chocolate and Love
• Chocolate Stella
• Divine Chocolate USA
• EMVI Chocolate
• Endangered Species Chocolate
• Fran’s Chocolates
• Green & Black’s Organic Chocolate
• Jelina Chocolatier
• Le Pain Quotidien
• Lidl Preferred Selection Chocolate
• Lily’s Sweets
• Monbana Hot Chocolate
• Nirvana Chocolate
• OMG’s Chocolate Graham Clusters
• Perfect Fuel
• The Raw Chocolate Company
• Trader Joe’s Chocolate
• Tony’s Chocolonely
• Valrhona

Coffee

• Cafe Altura (instant coffee)
• Club Coffee (Java Beans and Compostable K Cup)
• Copper Moon World Coffees
• Cycle Town Coffee Roasters
• Eco Café
• Ethical Bean Coffee Company
• Gourmesso (coffee pods)
• Grower’s Cup
• Happy Belly Coffee from Amazon
• Kaladi Coffee Roasters
• Kicking Horse Coffee
• Kirkland Coffee
• Kishé
• Lidl Organic Coffee
• Mount Hagen (Instant Coffee)
• Puro Fairtrade Coffee
• One Coffee (compostable coffee pods)
• Rhino Coffee (Sumatra Blend)
• Red Diamond Coffee
• Sam’s Club Daily Chef Espresso
• Seattle’s Best Coffee
• Starbucks Coffee Company
• Steep & Brew
• Sure House Coffee
• Thanksgiving Coffee Company
• Trader Joe’s brand Sumatra Blend & Brew-in-the-Bag coffees
• Van Houtte

3) Print out this image and post it on your refrigerator. (Your kids will remind you when you forget to consult it before purchasing 😉 )